MAY the best woman win. That’s the idea behind this week’s “American Idol” finale in which a new “AI” champion will be crowned as the series’ third made-by-television superstar.

But whether the “best woman” really wins depends on the tastes of the viewers who will be phoning in their votes before Wednesday’s grand finale. And the viewers have been making some pretty unpredictable calls this season, eliminating the performers, such as Jennifer Hudson and La Toya London, that the judges liked best.

Controversial or not, Fox is pulling out all the stops this week with four hours of “Idol” programming beginning Sunday night with “American Idol: The Phenomenon,” a one-hour retrospective tracing the history of the series from the first season to the present. So if you want to play catch-up with TV’s hottest show, here’s your chance.

Then on Tuesday, in a live show from Hollywood’s Kodak Theater, the two finalists will get to sing their hearts out to win viewer votes, the results of which will be announced Wednesday night at the conclusion of a special two-hour grand finale that will reunite all 12 “Idol” finalists.